Kaz Grala has High Hopes and Expectations at New Hampshire

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Kaz Grala is our next guest on Fan4Racing Fan2Fan NASCAR & Race Talk on Monday, July 7, 2014 at 9 pm ET. Call 347-996-5176 during the LIVE broadcast to interact with Kaz Grala and our Fan4Racing panel. 

K&N East driver Kaz Grala’s last race at Langley Speedway left him with his best finish of the season. Now he heads to his home track of New Hampshire Motor Speedway with high hopes and expectations. 

Grala came into the race at Langley Speedway looking to rebound from a couple tough finishes in the last few races. The night didn’t quite get off to the start Grala was hoping for, as the youngest driver in the field qualified 18th. But that wouldn’t stop the 15-year-old as he methodically worked his way through the field during the rest of the race.

By lap 55, Grala was into 15th and looking for more as the laps continued to wind down. By lap 100, Grala was inside the top-ten, looking poised for a solid finish. Grala would get more than that, as a late caution on lap 165 would bunch the field back up with Grala running in the eighth-place.

When the race resumed, Grala was able to pick off some of the competitors in front of him in the race’s closing laps. Ultimately, Grala was able to work his No. 31 OzLINK Chevrolet up to a fifth-place finish.

The top-five was a career-best finish for Grala and marked his first top-five and fourth top-ten in 2014. The 15-year-old now sits tenth in NASCAR’s K&N East Driver Point Standings heading into his home-track race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend.

“I didn’t qualify as well as I wanted to, but since the race was 175 laps, I was ready to battle my way to the front. When the green dropped, I immediately began working my way around people, slowly but surely. I conserved tires heavily on a late-race long run and began charging towards the front with about 30 to go. With five laps to go, I was in the eighth position for a restart. I fought my way past three more cars on the outside with a photo finish for fifth place. The No. 31 OzLINK Chevrolet ended up in the top five by inches, becoming my best career NASCAR K&N Pro Series East finish.”

The K&N Pro Series East now heads to Grala’s home track, New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Granite State 100 on Friday, July 11th at 6 pm ET.